Apparent consumption of alcohol decreased by 1.1% in 2010-11 to 182.0 million litres, according to figures released today by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

In 2010-11 there were 182.0 million litres of pure alcohol available for consumption, compared with 184.0 million litres in 2009-10. This was the first decrease recorded since 2001-02, and was due to decreases in the volume of pure alcohol from beer (down 3.4%) and wine (down 0.6%).

Over the past year, apparent consumption of spirits increased 4.8%, while Ready to Drink (pre-mixed) (RTDs) beverages have remained stable.

The changes in consumption patterns meant that beer accounted for 42% of all pure alcohol available for consumption in 2010-11 (down from 43% in 2009-10), wine 37% (unchanged), and spirits and RTDs 20% (up from 19% in 2009-10).

Overall, there were 10.0 litres of pure alcohol available for consumption per person aged 15 years and over in 2010-11, down 2.6% from 2009-10. This equates to around 2.2 standard drinks per person per day in 2010-11.

Estimates of 'apparent consumption' are obtained from information related to supply (for example, excise data on alcohol produced for domestic consumption, and data on imports) and do not represent actual consumption. No account is taken of changes in stocks, duty-free alcohol imported by individual overseas travellers, or for alcohol that has been stored or cellared, used in the preparation of food or discarded as waste. All alcohol available for consumption in a particular year is assumed to have been consumed in that year.

When reporting ABS data you must attribute the Australian Bureau of Statistics (or the ABS) as the source.